Surgical clamping means



1954 E. E. BAKER SURGICAL CLAMPINGMEANS Filed Jan. 50, 1952 INVENTOR. ELVIN E. BAKER BY ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 9, 1954 MEANS Elvin Baker Hamemtowil, Plai toi .George. B; Pilling,.& soni-Gompanggllhiladel pliia; Pafiarcornoration olffllennsylirania Rpplication 30, 195%; saismmzttzasa I'LCIaims. G1. 12'8i' 32 1%)- This: invention relates. to surgical forceps or; other. clamping means" and-particularly to c1amp-=- ing means adapted to clamp tubular vessels: off thebodyi-or othen tissues during surgery:

Surgical forceps which are generakuseare 5 made with. at great variety of types-sofa jaws-:havi-ng:v smooth; variously grooved; serrated; penfo rated or theelikesurfaoes; These forceps; have their advantages for various purposes; but; a-1so have iaults-iwhichappear in particularruses. In arterial surgery; for example; it. necessary-tow provide' a ciamp whic-h willr not slip; but; atithe same:time",-. it-is desirableto'prevent; penetration: of..the;tissues:or; other destructionthereof: for example, cutting actiom. Similar. problems? arise-in connection with-the-surgery ofothertubularmembe-rsofithe-body. or-various-i-ot-her tissues:-

The general obj ect of the present inventioniwis th provision of: forceps which? provide: ample: clamping for: arteries onother tubular members? offthe'body, or the .like, with:the1east: destructive actionztoi the clamped-tissues; the. f orcepszreduc ingthe pOSSibIllitYOf slipping as welliasaiding the: secureclampingf-bytheprovision of'teethorpoints inw-par-ticular. relations: to eachtotherfandatoxofthenf structural features of the jaws. The: general fob? jectof. the: -invention as:-.wel1-:as: subsidiary-obj ects having to-do with. particular featuresmfsoonstrucl tionwill become apparentffrom th'efollowinggdeescriptionmead; in conjunction: with;- thE"-a;COOIIIE-* 0 panying drawing iniwhich Figure: 1: is a plan viewof-i a: forceps's'p'rovidod'c in accordancewith-theinvention;

Figure 2.isamelevation-ofithe same;

Figure 3 is; afragmentary viewshowing-the: 5 ends of jaws of the creeps greatlyenlarged Figure L a; section; takeniowthe planerthe: trace of. which. is indicated? at- 4'fliin: Eigurealir: and

Eigure: 5 issa: sectionsimilar: to- Eiguree but 40 showing; an alternative-arrangement of: thejawss.

Clamps-provided in; accordance rWith'Itl'fefprEeS ent invention :may, be of' any" conventionais cont struction I aside from ithe :-orm ationt'ofztheoi'ampe ingisurface's ofithew-jaws: Eigures: liamdi 235110315- for example,- a forceps comprismgz: the? members 25 andkwhicnare hinged; at 6 and providediwitl'i fingersreeeiving rings: l-2-.and ailatchin'grarrange ment indicated at It comprising'inteiiengaging: tQOthGdzPl'OjGtiOHS-' The jaws'ssiandilflin'aymave conventional1shapesqasiderfromrthirclampingtsur face strnetureandwiu-will beiunderstoodztiiatsflie inventioniis quite germrallyranpiicabiem aigreat': of; forceps-z amt; othen clamps:v Straight or curved jaws of various dimensions dependingeuponthevparticular usesiori which-they m i-ngss wedges, scanndevices screwsror the: like.

fonthe nunnosetof-f closing: or adjusting the jaws;

The jaws may be wholly or only partially senrated". inzlaooordanoeiwithztherinvention and: the general natureofithexserrations provided in. car'-= yiing: out: the inventionwill be made clear from? Figures aandeiswhichrshowa:preferrediarrangementxofftheserrationsiiorianaortic clamp; v

The: twosj awsa differrim construction and: there Will:- firstbe: described particularlythe constructiomnfi the jaw 02. The'sformatiom of this jaW mawtake-placerby:milling simultaneously clamp-- ing" ed'ge flat's- I6: and: a V-shaped longitudinal. groove 18? having: relatively" inclined longitudi' naliy extending sides: and: leaving projectedi pointedzribs extending; longitudinally of the-jaw asiindicatediatflos Teethror serrations-arethen providedibyztransverse millin -or filing-10f" grooves 422? to; leaves-longitudinal; rows of wedge shaped teeth orserrations zkflanking the-groove 18. In

thetillust-ratedimodifioation the transverse grooves 22$ arersufiieienths spaced: and formed at such anglesi that the? teeth; are.-wedge shaped-1 as just deseribed;. i'; er, having relativelyinclinedilongia tudinallyrext'ending sidest- Howeven. for" certain uses it may ber more desirable to have the teeth pointedia si viewed: from thesides of the jawsrtheteeth being in the form of individual pyramids of rectangular-basin. I

Azcooperating jaw I20: isxmilled fiat at-26 and is provided desirablmin-theEsamemilIingoperation, with a':=p,air*of: grooves? 28: of the: characteristicsmentionedi above+ leaving; at projecting ridge 3 0 which by transverse milling-n orrfilingat 3 I 1 pl-0 videsxthea-teeth' on serrations; 32- flanked bythe grooves. -Asin-the=case of. the teeth-.21; these teethanayzbevvedgevshaped;onpyramidal-v dependinggzupomtheparticulanuse for; whichrthe forceps isad'esigned': .It; willibe-notedrfrom Eig-ure- 4 that therte'thrtkzarel lined up witmand aread'apted to enter; grooves:- 28; while? theteeth: 32: are' lined upewitir, iandsadaptedito enter; the groove: 4 8a Eon-most; purposessthei angles; of: the teeth: anctzg-rn eves as: viewed Jim the-:-transversewsectioni constituting Figure 4 will be eo1v ual; As H1115?" v trazted'ftiie -includedxanglessofibothithei-teethz'and grooyes;imFig' ure 4-are:4:5;vi; 'l hesincluded angles ofithe .tramsve'rsezgrooyesi-zzfand. Eare- GG Theromszofiteethromthmrespectiveij aws are thus laterailyrdispcosedv'relaztiveztonaoh.othera J1 nesirabiyr the: arrangements: such-:that without interposed tissue, if the jaws were brought tightly together, the smooth flat surfaces I6 and 26, which extend substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws, would engage to prevent engagement of the teeth in the troughs of their respective longitudinal grooves. Under such circumstances, and since the tissues will, in general, prevent the smooth flat clamping surfaces from approaching very closely to each other, clearances are provided between the approaching surface portions of the jaws which will prevent penetration of the tissues, at any rate to such an extent as would produce undesirable damage.

The desired high insurance against slippage consistent with avoidance or limitation of damage to the tissues is still further secured by the rectly opposed to each other, as considered in transverse sections, but rather are relatively displaced by one-half the pitch of the teeth, i. e.,

the teeth of adjacent rows on the respective jaws are in longitudinally staggered relationship, from which it follows that each tooth is aligned with the groove between a pair of teeth in the other Jaw.

Figure 4 shows in construction lines the position of the upper jaw 8 in relationship to the lower jaw 10 when tissues T are clamped. It will be evident that the compressed tissues limit the movement of the jaws towards each other and secure holding occurs without penetration of the tissues by the teeth by reason of a wavy condition imposed on the tissues in the section illustrated in Figure 4. Furthermore, by reason of the longitudinally staggered relationship of the teeth it will be evident that, viewed in a section taken longitudinally, the tissues are also disposed in wavy fashion, a tooth of one jaw tending to promote the disposition of a lateral portion of the tissue within a notch between teeth of the other jaw. The result is secure clamping without damaging penetration by the teeth even if the teeth are sharp. It may be here noted that the teeth may be made more or less pointed by variation of the angles involved in their formation, and in certain cases it may be desirable to round the edges or points of the teeth as well as the shoulders which are produced where the teeth or grooves intersect the flat surfaces such as lfi or 26.

In the modification so far described, one of the jaws is provided with a single row of longitudinally arranged teeth while the other is provided with two rows of longitudinally arranged teeth, the teeth of the respective rows being received within corresponding longitudinal grooves. It will be evident, however, that numerous variations may be provided involving, for example, additional rows of teeth, difierent arrangements of grooves, or even an arrangement in which each jaw cornprises only a single row of teeth and a groove cooperating with the teeth in the opposed jaw. To indicate one of the many variations which may be provided reference may be made to Figure 5 which shows the cooperating jaws of another type of clamp, the section being similar to that of Figure 4.

The jaw 34 of this clamp is provided with teeth 38 which may be wedge-shaped or pyramidal, a groove 40, and fiat portions 42. The other jaw 36 is provided with a pair of rows of teeth 46 which may be wedge-shaped or pyramidal, arranged to be received within the groove 40 of jaw 34, a pair of longitudinal grooves 44 arranged to receive the teeth 38, and flat portions 48 opposed to the flat portions 42 of jaw 34. In this modification the teeth may be staggered on the respective jaws as described in connection with Figure 3. It will be evident that the jaws illustrated in Figure 5 will clamp tissues in a fashion generally similar to that already described though the jaws may be wider. Numerous other arrangements may be provided in accordance with the invention, and in particular various portions of the jaws may, if desired, be made plain without serrations or grooves. In view of the many variations possible, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be construed as limited except as required by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, each of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth and at least one longitudinal groove located to receive a row of teeth of the opposite jaw, the rows of teeth on the respective jaws being laterally disposed relative to each other.

2. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, each of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth and at least one longitudinal groove located to receive a row of teeth of the opposite jaw, the rows of teeth on the respective jaws being laterally disposed relative to each other, and the teeth of adjacent rows on the respective jaws being in longitudinal ly staggered relationship.

3. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, each of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth and at least one longitudinal groove located to receive a row of teeth of the opposite jaw, the rows of teeth on the respective jaws being laterally disposed relative to each other, and said jaws having coopcrating relatively smooth clamping surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws.

4. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, each of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth and at least one longitudinal groove located to receive a row of teeth of the opposite jaw, the rows of teeth on the respective jaws being laterally disposed relative to each other, and the teeth of adjacent rows on the respective jaws being in longitudinally staggered relationship, and said jaws having cooperating relatively smooth clamping surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws.

5 Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of aws mounted for movement towards and from each other, one of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth, and the other of said jaws having a groove located to receive a row of teeth on the first mentioned jaw, and said jaws having cooperating relatively smooth clamping surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws.

6. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, one of said jaws comprising a longitudinal row of teeth flanked by a pair of longitudinal grooves, and the other of said jaws having rows of teeth arranged to be reecived by the first mentioned grooves, the teeth of the first mentioned row being in longitudinally staggered relationship with the teeth of the second mentioned rows.

8. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, one of said jaws comprising a longitudinal row of teeth flanked by a pair of longitudinal grooves, and the other of said jaws having a longitudinal groove arranged to receive said row of teeth and flanked by a pair of longitudinal rows of teeth arranged to be received by the first mentioned grooves, and said jaws having cooperating relatively smooth clamping surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws.

9. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, one of said jaws comprising a longitudinal row of teeth flanked by a pair of longitudinal grooves, and the other of said jawshaving a longitudinal groove arranged to receive said row of teeth and flanked by a pair of longi- 3 tudinal rows of teeth arranged to be received the first mentioned grooves, the teeth of the first mentioned row being in longitudinally staggered relationship with the teeth of the second mentioned rows, and said jaws having cooperating relatively smooth clamping surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws.

10. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from each other, one of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth having relatively inclined longitudinally extending sides, and the other of said jaws having a groove located to receive a row of teeth on the first mentioned jaw and having relatively inclined longitudinally extending sides.

11. Surgical clamping means comprising a pair of jaws mounted for movement towards and from v each other, one of said jaws comprising at least one longitudinal row of teeth, and the other of said jaws having a groove located to receive a row of teeth on the first mentioned jaw, and said jaws having cooperating relatively smooth clamping surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the direction of relative movement of the jaws, interengagement of said cooperating surfaces preventing interengagement of the teeth with their receiving groove.

ELVIN E. BAKER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 97,399 4 Holmes Nov. 30, 1869 273,382 Packham Mar. 6, 1883 1,918,889 Bacon July 18, 1933 

